The present invention relates to safety devices, and more particularly to safety devices that can be used with ladders or scaffolds in a variety of different environments.
Government regulations, as well as general safety considerations require the use of a safety device, such as rope or harness whenever a worker works in elevated positions. Such devices are designed to be fastened to the worker via a safety waist belt or harness via a lanyard. The safety harness is then designed to be attached to a safety line, which in turn is attached to some elevated structure independently of the ladder or scaffold. In the event of a fall, the safety device is designed to slow the descent and/or lock the safety line in a position above ground to thereby prevent injury to the worker.
Conventional safety harnesses have suffered from numerous disadvantages. For example, it is believed that prior art harnesses have been difficult and time consuming for a person to initially put on prior to their ascent. Additionally, after a person wearing a prior art harness became suspended by the rope grab and safety line, the suspended person oftentimes found it very difficult to connect the harness to a lowering device. Other disadvantages of some of the known safety devices refer to the fact that the descent is made too fast with a possibility that the locking device would not stop a fall,
Accordingly, there exists a need for a safety device to be used in any type of system or environment for supporting a person at a position elevated from the ground, while facilitating locking engagement of the safety deice much faster than it is possible with conventional safety systems.